


Children of the Sun

by PoohBear99



Category: Taiyou no Ko Esteban | Les Mystérieuses Cités d'or | The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 18:12:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoohBear99/pseuds/PoohBear99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Esteban, Tao, and Zia are in high school.   Tao and Esteban are both in love with Zia, and Zia is in love with both of them.  Esteban and Zia are dating, but her parents don't really like him because he's white.  They want her to end up with someone like Tao.  Follow our beloved characters as they deal with all the ups and downs of growing up and dealing with real life.   May contain some adult language, but nothing too graphic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, I'm just playing around with them. The story belongs to me, the characters do not (except the ones I made up). The original story was set in the 16th century, but my story is set in the 20th century.**

 

**Children of the Sun**

**Chapter 1**   
  


**Esteban  
**

**  
**I stared at the chemistry book in front of me, trying to figure out what the heck the teacher was talking about.  It seemed all too confusing for me.  I looked across the room to where Zia was sitting.  She was chewing on her braid and scribbling furiously.  I just shook my head.  I couldn't believe it had been 5 years since I had met her and our friend Tao when I'd visited Hawaii for the summer.  My legal guardian, Mendoza, had wanted to visit Hawaii and I had come along for the ride.  I'd been raised by Father Rodriguez over in Barcelona, but he had passed away when I was 12.  Mendoza had become my legal guardian since then.  I had been a baby when my parents had died, so I had no idea about them.  Mendoza didn't like talking about them, so I didn't push the subject.

  
Zia was almost 16, and Tao was almost 18.  They lived in the Indian village on the other side of the Island.  Zia's father was the Great Papacamayo, the chief of the tribe.  Since Zia was an only child, she would have to marry to take over the tribe, and her husband would become the chief.  If she did not marry, it would go to the oldest living relative.  

  
Watching Zia now, I could feel that warm feeling heating up my body.  She was so beautiful I sometimes didn't know what to say around her.  Her golden skin, dark hair and dark eyes made me melt into a puddle of goo, especially when she smiled at me.  I sometimes wondered why she would want to be with a white man when she could have Tao or even any other guy from her village, but she chose me.

  
Back when we first met, I had been a gangly boy of only 12 and she had been 11.  Even back then she had been the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.  Then when she had introduced me to Tao, the three of us had become inseperable.  At the end of the summer, when I'd had to return to Barcelona, Zia and I had promised to write to each other.  I had kissed her, our first kiss, and it had been magical.  

  
I had begged Mendoza to move us to Hawaii, and two years ago he had finally relented.  He had gotten us a log cabin on the island with all the modern conveniences, and had moved his business to the island as well. 

My renunion with Zia had been a day to remember too.  I still didn't know what she saw in me, especially since her father was dead set against his only daughter running around with a white man.  I knew Tao was in love with her too, but she was dating me.  If it came down to a decision, I hated the thought of having her choose him over me.

  
Zia met me in the hallway after class, and I took her books.  We started heading for the lockers so we could head home.  She loved my car.  Mendoza had bought it for me when I turned 16.  It was a Ford Mustang, and all American muscle car.  I had to laugh at that one, since I wasn't even an American but owned an American car.  Back in Spain Mendoza had driven a Volvo, and he'd gotten one over here as well.

  
"Do you have a lot of homework tonight, or do you want to go grab a bite to eat?" I asked as we headed for the parking lot holding hands.

  
"I'm starving," she said, sliding closer to me as we made our way through the crowd.  Once we were in the car, she climbed in my lap and started kissing me.  I had my hand cupped behind her head, securing her face to mine.  We were both gasping for air when the kiss finally ended.

  
"Tao came over last night after you left," she said.  "He kept asking how far you and I go when we're alone, mainly he wanted to know if we're sleeping together.  Why does he even care?"

  
"He just wants to know the competition, babe."  Not that I wouldn't mind being intimate with Zia, but I wasn't an asshole.  I would go as fast or as slow as she was comfortable with.  If and when the time came for us to express our feelings that way, I wanted it to be special for us both.

  
"There's no competition.  I don't love him the way I love you," she said, reminding me of her loyalty.

  
"Well that's good, because I don't love him the way I love you either," I teased, kissing her on the nose.  She rolled her eyes and snorted.

   
Tao knocked on the window, and Zia climbed off my lap as Tao climbed in the backseat.  I started the car and headed to the burger joint.  I loved Tao like a brother, but he needed a girlfriend so he wouldn't be always hanging out with us when we wanted to be alone.

  
After we ate, I dropped Tao off first, and then Zia.  I longed for the day when I could visit with her in her home, but her parents were very strict with her.  Tao's family wasn't like that, they liked me.  Tao and I had spent a lot of nights playing basketball or just hanging out.

  
I was working on my homework when Mendoza came home.

  
"Did you eat yet, son?" he asked.  He called me son even though he was only my guardian.  He was more like a father to me than Father Rodriguez had been.

  
"Yeah.  Zia, Tao, and I grabbed food at the Burger Shack."

  
"I always had a feeling about you kids.  I knew you would become good friends."

  
"Well, Zia and I are kind of more than friends, you know."

  
"I had a feeling about that too, I saw the way you were with her back when you were just kids.  Even back then you belonged together."

  
"I wish I could convince her parents of that," I muttered.

  
"They'll come around."

  
"They have it in their head that all white people are the enemy."

  
"You have to realize that this Indian and white people goes back centuries.  Zia's people come from an old tribe that has been set in their ways for as long as I can remember.  You can't change some people's minds no matter how hard you try.  It's like that movie _West Side Story_ , the one where the Italian guy fell in love with the Mexican girl and their parents hated each other just because of their race."

  
"Guess you can't choose who you fall in love with, can you?" I asked, shaking my head.

  
"Sometimes life's not fair."  He patted me on the back before retiring to the den to watch TV.  

  
After I finished my homework, I headed to my room to call Zia before bed.  We would talk until we were both falling asleep on each other, and I know my dreams were filled with thoughts of her every night.  Tonight was no exception.  I drifted into unconsciousness with visions of her in my head.  
  


 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

**Chapter 2**

  
  
**Zia**

  
  
I put my books on my desk in my room and then went to see what my parents were up to.  My mother was in the living room sewing a deerskin blanket together.

  
"Mom, seriously?  A blanket?  We live in Hawaii, the coldest it ever gets here is 60 degrees," I said.

  
"True, but there are tourists that live in cold climates and they would appreciate it."

  
My mother sold hand made crafts and knickknacks at the Indian trading post on the edge of the island closest to the airport.

  
"You should come work with me there, Zia, make yourself a little money.  If you want your father and I to buy you a car, you'll have to make some money for the insurance and gasoline for it."

  
"I don't need a car, Esteban has a car and promised me he would let me drive it when I get my license."

  
My mother rolled her eyes.  I knew how she and my father felt about him, but I loved him.

  
"Honestly, how can you spend so much time with that white boy when Tao keeps coming over a lot?  He really cares about you, and you treat him like dirt."

  
"I do not, Mother, Tao is my best friend.  He knows I will never love him."

  
Just thinking about Esteban warmed my heart.  With his puppy dog brown eyes, he had a way of making me feel like the only girl on earth.  I'd had a huge crush on him when I was 11 when we first met, but now that we were in high school our relationship was moving along wonderfully.  He had given me my first kiss that summer, before he had gone back to Barcelona.  I had pined away for him, thinking I would never see him again, so imagine my surprise when he and Mendoza moved to Hawaii a couple years later.

  
After dinner, I retired to my room to tackle homework, and that's when I heard Tao coming up the stairs.  He had that annoying parrot with him that he called Kokopetl.  That bird had been annoying from day one, and I sometimes wished he would leave him at home instead of taking him everywhere.

  
"What's up?" Tao asked as he sat down on my bed.  How I longed to see another boy sitting on my bed, anyone but Tao.  Tao and I had grown up together, we understood each other.  He was like the brother I never had.  Although we had shared one kiss three years ago, I didn't feel the same way about him that he felt about me.  I had only kissed him because I hadn't known that Esteban would show back up in Hawaii.

  
"I have a lot of homework to do, Tao," I said, not wanting to have the same argument with him every day.

  
"That's fine, I can help you.  I am ahead of you by one year so I've already done the material."

  
"How am I supposed to learn if I let you do it for me?" I asked, picking up my Chemistry book.

  
"I just want to help you.  You've been very hostile towards me since you and Esteban became exclusive."

  
"What do you want from me, Tao?"  He focused his dark eyes on me, his dark copper skin contrasting with the white shirt he was wearing.

  
"I just want to know where we stand.  I know you have feelings for me, Zia, you're just afraid to admit them."

  
"Tao, I thought I told you-" I started to say but he cut me off.

  
"You can love two people at one time, you know.  Lots of people in the village do.  A lot of the men around here have more than one wife."

  
"I don't want to be with two guys, Tao, I love Esteban."

  
He moved closer to me, and I felt my heart being dragged through a wringer.  If I gave in to him I would be betraying Esteban in the worst way, but if I rejected him, I might lose the best friend I ever had.

  
"Tao, I think you should go," I said finally as he moved still closer to me.

  
"Is that what you really want?"

  
"I don't know what I want anymore," I admitted, moving towards the door.  He blocked my exit, wrapping his massive arms around him.  I didn't realize how strong he was, he had put on some weight since last summer.  I moved my face just before he could kiss me, and that's when I heard a noise outside my window. 

  
"What was that?" I asked, and all of a sudden there was a loud thud and Esteban came flying through the open window.  He made a weird growling sound as he crouched between me and Tao.

  
"Esteban?  What are you doing here?  And why did you sneak in the window?"

  
"I was outside the window and saw Tao making a move on my girl," he said, his eyes flashing angrily towards Tao.  I stood behind Esteban, with my hand on his arm, hoping there wouldn't be a fight.

  
"I think you've got the wrong house, Esteban, this village is for natives only, the white village is on the other side of the island," Tao snapped.

  
The door burst open, and my parents stood there glaring at everyone.

  
"Zia, what is he doing here?!" my father demanded.

  
"He came in the window," I explained.  "Tao was trying to kiss me, and Esteban got upset and tried to protect me."

  
My father scoffed, but my mother sighed in frustration.

  
"Fine, but he needs to go by ten.  You do have a curfew during school days, you know," my mother said.  I looked up at her in shock.

  
"You mean he can stay?"

  
"Yes, but keep the door open."  They turned on their heels and went back to the front room.  Tao got up too.

  
"I'd rather be somewhere else," he muttered as he stalked out the door.

  
"Tao, don't be mad," I said sadly, not wanting to lose my best friend.  
  
With Esteban's help, I managed to get my Chemistry homework done with plenty of time to listen to music and talk.  Seeing Esteban sitting on the edge of my bed stirred something inside me, something I'd never felt before.

  
"I'm kind of disappointed," he said, looking around my room.

  
"Why?"

  
"Your room looks so normal.  Most girls I know have posters of musicians or movie actors, or even worse, everything's in pink."

  
"I'm not a white girl, Esteban, I'm an Indian, and we believe in keeping things natural."

  
I had one framed picture of a horse on my wall, and my dresser had a small framed photo of me, Esteban, and Tao taken when we were kids.  Mendoza had taken it on the day before Esteban left for Barcelona.  Other than that my room was fairly plain, my bed was covered with earth tone colored silk sheets and a bedspread to match made out of deerskin.  Most of my clothes were handmade by my mother or the other women in the village.  My favorite was the deerskin dress that my mother had made for me for Christmas last year.  I wasn't used to the customs of the white people, but it was either go to the public high school or have a tutor come to the house five days a week.  The village didn't have a schoolhouse ever since the fire two years ago, so most of the village children either went to public school or had tutors.

  
"Zia, I wanted to ask you something," Esteban said after a few moments of comfortable silence.

  
"Yes?"

  
"Did you hear about the Harvest Moon Dance coming up next month?"

  
"Tao mentioned it, why?"

  
"I want to ask you to be my date."  Me?  Go to a dance?  I've never been to a dance in my life, at least not a white man's dance.  The villagers would do a rain dance or a harvest dance, but that wasn't the same thing.

  
"I don't really know how to dance, but I'll give it a shot," I said finally.  Any excuse to be seen in public with Esteban.  I wanted to try to enjoy the same things he did.

  
Esteban left right at 10:00 under the careful watch of my parents. I heard his car rev a few times before he headed down the road leading out of the village.  I sighed and flopped back on the bed, my lips still tingling from his kisses.

  
"Zia, we need to talk," my father called through my closed door.  I rolled my eyes and headed into the living room.

  
"Now, I don't understand this fascination with this white boy, nor do I want to understand.  But your mother and I are going to try to meet you halfway.  After all, you will be 18 in a couple years and we don't want to have to lose you any earlier than we have to." 

  
"You mean you're not going to fight with me over Esteban?" I asked in shock.

  
"I didn't say that, I'm just saying that you're young and I'm sure that you'll get over this white boy sooner or later, so we're going to step back and trust your judgement.  After all, we were young once too, even though your mother and I had an arranged marriage.  Before we were married, we both dated other people."

  
"Oh, Papa, Mama, I'm so happy."  I hugged them both, trying not to cry.  I had to go call Esteban.

  
"That's great, babe, we'll have to go out tomorrow after school to celebrate."

 

 


End file.
